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Smarter Cities

Bogota Cyclists Go Green, Rolling Over Traffic And Smog

Bogota residents are increasingly braving reckless car drivers, crime and pollution to cycle their way through the Colombian capital. It's one way people are taking back public spaces.

Cycling in Bogota
Cycling in Bogota

BOGOTA — It's impossible to ignore car traffic or air pollution in the Colombian capital of Bogota, but there is cause for optimism here as cycling becomes increasingly visible. The city government is encouraging this green transport, and younger residents especially are keen to find new ways to live in this car-dominated metropolis.

If you plan to be among the million or so foreign tourists who visit the capital every year, cycling may be a good option for getting around, becoming familiar with the city geography, and meeting locals through cycling groups.

One of the city's most popular circuits is the Sunday ride and walk downthe carrera Séptima, one of the major arteries linking residential northern Bogota to the historical district, which is closed to auto traffic Sunday mornings.

The city has also begun cycling nights on Wednesdays and Thursdays, effectively adopting a trend now solidly established in European and some American cities. It allows residents to rediscover a habit President John F. Kennedy once described as an incomparable, if simple, pleasure.

The trend began here about five years ago when few believed it was feasible or could catch on amid significant smog and sometimes life-threatening car traffic. Today, there are 15 cycling groups in the capital.

"Some are born to create a space inside each locality so people can know and start owning the city," says Walter García, head of the En Bici es Mejor group. He says it also unites friends who like the same things and who want to make a difference. Other routes he suggests include around the Campín stadium to the historic Plaza de Bolívar, to Suba in northern Bogota, or the Chorro de Quevedo, one of the city's oldest districts. It's even possible to cycle to the airport.

Some of the neighborhood itineraries include Fontirueda, Teusacatubici — in the trendy, midtown district of Teusaquillo — or Bikennedy in the southern district named after John F. Kennedy, who visited Bogota in 1961. Other groups take members on rides outside the capital.

Unfortunately, theft and other crimes are a reality in Bogota, and there are intermittent reports of muggers attacking cyclists, who lack the protection of a private vehicle but attract more attention than pedestrians. For that reason, some cycling groups don't publish their routes on networking websites, instead telling members just the meeting point.

Photo: CicloPaseo Cachaco

Groups typically cycle for between two and six hours. Whatever the distance or time, membership is free. Some, like Ciclopaseo Cachaco, have dress codes (vintage lovers, this is the group for you). Others, such as ChicKs Bikes, have one-off themes.

Bogota has the largest regional network of bike lines, 392 kilometers, according to the city's transport authority. Authorities put the current number of cyclists at 450,000 and growing. But of course, the trend's longer-term environmental benefits and impact on social culture, while almost certain, have yet to be measured.

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Green

Forest Networks? Revisiting The Science Of Trees And Funghi "Reaching Out"

A compelling story about how forest fungal networks communicate has garnered much public interest. Is any of it true?

Thomas Brail films the roots of a cut tree with his smartphone.

Arborist and conservationist Thomas Brail at a clearcutting near his hometown of Mazamet in the Tarn, France.

Melanie Jones, Jason Hoeksema, & Justine Karst

Over the past few years, a fascinating narrative about forests and fungi has captured the public imagination. It holds that the roots of neighboring trees can be connected by fungal filaments, forming massive underground networks that can span entire forests — a so-called wood-wide web. Through this web, the story goes, trees share carbon, water, and other nutrients, and even send chemical warnings of dangers such as insect attacks. The narrative — recounted in books, podcasts, TV series, documentaries, and news articles — has prompted some experts to rethink not only forest management but the relationships between self-interest and altruism in human society.

But is any of it true?

The three of us have studied forest fungi for our whole careers, and even we were surprised by some of the more extraordinary claims surfacing in the media about the wood-wide web. Thinking we had missed something, we thoroughly reviewed 26 field studies, including several of our own, that looked at the role fungal networks play in resource transfer in forests. What we found shows how easily confirmation bias, unchecked claims, and credulous news reporting can, over time, distort research findings beyond recognition. It should serve as a cautionary tale for scientists and journalists alike.

First, let’s be clear: Fungi do grow inside and on tree roots, forming a symbiosis called a mycorrhiza, or fungus-root. Mycorrhizae are essential for the normal growth of trees. Among other things, the fungi can take up from the soil, and transfer to the tree, nutrients that roots could not otherwise access. In return, fungi receive from the roots sugars they need to grow.

As fungal filaments spread out through forest soil, they will often, at least temporarily, physically connect the roots of two neighboring trees. The resulting system of interconnected tree roots is called a common mycorrhizal network, or CMN.

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